With the second World Test Championship entering the final stretch, the ICC have announced the dates for the final to be played at The Oval in June.
The match will be held at the famous London ground from June 7-11 with June 12 to be kept as a reserve day in case of rain.
The final will now take place during a jam-packed schedule of cricket, landing in between the IPL Final which is expected to be on May 28, and the first test of the Ashes, commencing on June 16 in Birmingham.
This cycle of the WTC still has three series to be completed, with India currently hosting Australia in the four-test Border-Gavaskar series, New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka in two Tests and the West Indies visiting South Africa for two Tests.
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As it stands, only four teams can make the final, with Australia, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa the contenders. Australia are warm favourites to earn a spot in the final, needing only to draw a test in this current series and not be penalised points for poor over rates to seal it.
India are looking more and more likely to be there as well, needing to win the Border-Gavaskar series 3-1 to seal their spot. Should they not manage that, they will be dependent on the results of the other current series.
For Sri Lanka and South Africa to go through to the final, they will need a complex series of results to go their way, making it unlikely that they will change their fortunes at this late stage.
The ICC announced late last year that the locations for the next two WTC finals would be the Oval in 2023 and Lord's for the third cycle of the competition, finishing in 2025. This follows the successful first instalment of the competition that saw New Zealand beat India in Southampton in 2021 and be crowned the inaugural World Test Champions.
